pasta
Americannoun
-
pastas
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pasta
1870–75; < Italian < Late Latin. See paste
Explanation
Pasta is any Italian style of noodle, including spaghetti, ziti, and macaroni. Your favorite type of pasta might be fettuccine, especially when it's served in a creamy Alfredo sauce. Pasta refers to the noodle, or to the dish that contains it, like vegetable lasagna or spaghetti carbonara. Most pasta is made from semolina flour and water, and often eggs. The stiff dough is rolled very thin and then cut into shapes or long ribbons. It can be cooked from this soft, fresh state, or (more commonly) dried, packaged, and sold. Pasta is an Italian word (surprise, surprise), from Late Latin, which means "dough or paste."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Fuel prices led farmers and truck drivers to block roads earlier this week in the Puglia, Calabria and Sicily regions, slowing fuel transport and threatening pasta production.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
The handcut angel-air Francese pasta is like a religious experience.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Backed by Oprah Winfrey, True Food Kitchen says it serves nutrient-dense meals including pasta, salads and chicken dishes with thoughtfully sourced ingredients.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
I tell Hanan my son usually eats them with raw carrot sticks and pasta.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Camille is pounding away on the keyboard, sighing when someone lives in the wrong zip code and taking a triumphant bite of pasta when she finds a possibility.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
She’s tried to replicate the experience in Sarasota, by importing Italian pastas and flours and procuring French butter from specialty stores.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
She began to cut out ultra-processed foods, instead opting for fresh fruit and vegetables, whole wheat pastas and oats.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2026
Sides, pastas and desserts tend to be more profitable, with lower ingredient costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
Its sprawling, old factory and corporate office in Gardena is now churning out protein-fortified pastas for Angelenos who want more bang for their bowls.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2025
He pours wine into all of our glasses, and we order soups and salads and four different pastas, and no dish is spectacular but everything is good enough.
From "We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
